Community Publishing Cost-Sharing

an investment in your story—and in what comes next for you, our community, and the world

Gretchen used to work for the National Guard Bureau and they had a practice—bottom line up front.

The community cost-sharing for Founding Threshold Story Authors is $495. Invited established authors who help anchor our books will have this fee waived. Preferred pricing is available through selected Village of Care Press community partners. Scholarships will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Before you decide whether community publishing is right for you, consider the author benefits and the philosophical foundation for this choice as a small independent press building an ecosystem centered on writers and authors—not profit centers.

  • You should never sell away rights to your voice.

  • We’re building a community.

  • We believe in giving back.

  • We want your book to have a life beyond the book launch.

  • We support you in creating a path for your book to pay for itself.

You should never sell away rights to your voice.

Village of Care Press uses a community publishing model. Rather than taking ownership of your work or your royalties, participating authors contribute a publishing fee that helps support the professional editing, design, production, and publishing of the collection. The result is more than a beautifully produced book. It is an opportunity to become a published author while retaining ownership of your work and the freedom to use your story to support your larger goals.

More than 100 authors have experienced the benefits of independent and community publishing with us. We have supported nearly 400 authors through our publishing, editing, and author-support work. Some simply wanted to see an important story in print. Others have used their books to build their professional visibility, attract clients, support speaking and teaching, promote a cause, raise money for organizations they care about, or open the door to their next book.

We’re Building A Community

Community publishing is more than just writing stories and publishing books. We’re building a community. The stories create the book. the book creates the conversation. The conversations create community.

You may be discovering the writer within you—learning the craft of storytelling, preparing your work for publication, or building a life around books you have already published. Wherever you are, writing doesn't have to be a solitary endeavor. The Village offers opportunities to learn, create, share, and grow in community.

Welcome to The Village.

We believe in giving back.

Community cost-sharing also helps support The Village, where emerging writers can learn alongside new and established authors. We believe writers who have found their way can reach back to those just beginning—because every one of us was once a starting writer.

Consistent with seven years of engaging in community publishing with Retreat House Spirituality Center in Dallas, Texas, Village of Care mindfully works to distribute books to those who cannot access them through tiny libraries, senior spaces, and homeless centers.

Gretchen also brings her experience as the former director of fundraising and communications for a beloved Washington, DC, nonprofit. If your book is connected to a cause you care about, she will joyfully help you think about how to leverage your story and our books to raise awareness, engage supporters, and generate support for your cause.

Author fees help support these efforts so that our books create impact beyond people who have the money to purchase them. Some of our most meaningful work in Dallas has grown from these relationships—including donating books to homeless shelters and publishing the deeply moving story of a woman who wrote about the unexpected gifts she discovered while experiencing homelessness.

We want your book to have a life beyond publication. That’s why our program for emerging authors is called Your Book as Impact.

If you know the publishing world, you know that traditional royalty structures often leave authors with a relatively small share of book revenue, while publishers typically retain considerable control over the finished book. At Village of Care Press, we take the opposite approach—we help our authors find success and celebrate their wins. Gretchen brings more than publishing expertise to the process. Her background in coaching, business development, marketing, and community-building helps authors think about what they can do with a book once they have one. She also had the privilege of spending nearly three years in an elite program with Steve Harrison—who helped launch Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Soul phenomenon—focused on marketing, social media, and publicity for authors, speakers, and consultants.

Threshold Story Authors receive ongoing opportunities for professional development, visibility, and connection through The Village. These include author marketing and branding programs, features in The Village News, opportunities to participate in storytelling events and author panels, video content authors may use in their own marketing, and preferred pricing on future editing, consulting, and publishing services.

These author benefits represent a minimum of $600 in additional value, with the potential for considerably greater savings for authors who later work with Village of Care Press on another book or publishing project.

Creating a path for your book to pay for itself.

Because you retain your royalties and may purchase author copies at cost, your book can also become an income-producing asset.

For example, an author who purchases a softcover book for approximately $5 and sells it for $15 earns approximately $10 per copy. The same is true of a hardcover purchased for approximately $10 and sold for $20. At those margins, selling approximately 50 books can recover your $495 investment.

For entrepreneurs and organizational leaders, the return may take a different form.

·       A coach or consultant might recover the investment by acquiring a small number of new clients or reengaging with former clients.

·       A nonprofit leader might use a book launch as a fundraiser.

·       A speaker, teacher, or retreat leader might use the book to deepen a program, reach a new audience, or create an opportunity that did not exist before.

There are no guarantees about what a book will earn or where it will lead. But there are few limits to what can become possible when your story enters the world.

We believe publishing should create impact rather than simply produce a product.